It's human nature. When somebody, an organization or political party one supports, does something vile, people tend to ignore it or justify it. But when somebody, organization or political party one does not support, does something wrong, condemnation comes quickly. That is true with Christian denominations and federations too. It's plain to see when you look at the words and actions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran World Federation. They must really admire the Palestinians, and moreover, really dislike the Jews (Israel). Since the beginning of the year, and increasingly more in the month of July, thousands of rockets have been shot at civilian populations from the Palestinians in Gaza into Israel. Not surprisingly, there has not been a word of condemnation said in regard to this by the ELCA and LWF. Three Israeli teens were recently kidnapped and murdered by the Palestinians and still no condemnation from these two Christian bodies. But look what happens when Israel finally decided to take action against the constant rocket attacks against their citizens. Immediately both the ELCA and the LWF write letters/press releases calling for a ceasefire, an end to the hostility. (see here and here) It is only when Israel defends itself that the liberal Lutherans start shouting to end the fighting. The ELCA and LWF are showing their true colors. One has to really not like a country or a nationality to be silent when that group is being attacked, but then immediately calls for the hostilities to stop once the nation begins to defend itself. If you would like more evidence documenting the ELCA and LWF's adversarial actions and position concerning Israel see http://www.exposingtheelca.com/on-israel.html

Have the credulous adherents of religious Leftism in the ELCA and LWF ever bothered to read the Hamas Charter? http://www.hamascharter.com Don’t bet on it.

Dennis Prager writes:

". . . in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority, I interviewed Ghassan Khatib, director of government media for the Palestinian Authority and the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. I asked him the same question: Do the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state? . . .

His long answer amounted to: "No."

There is no Jewish people, he told me, so how could there be a Jewish country? The Palestinian position is that there is a religion called Judaism, but there is no such thing as a Jewish people. (Interestingly, the Jews are referred to belonging to a religion only once in the entire Hebrew Bible -- in the Book of Esther, by the anti-Semite Haman.)

In other words, Palestinians -- people in a national group that never existed by the name "Palestine" until well into the 20th century -- deny the existence of the oldest continuous nation in the world, dating back over 3,000 years. Now, that's real chutzpah.

Indeed, the Palestinians deny that the Jews ever lived in Israel. That is why Yasser Arafat could not even admit that Jesus was a Jew; rather, according to Arafat, "Jesus was a Palestinian." To acknowledge that Jesus was a Jew would mean that Jews lived in Israel thousands of years ago, in a Jewish state, moreover -- long before Muslims existed, long before Arabs moved there, and millennia before anyone called himself a Palestinian. . . .

As Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, wrote in The Washington Post. . .:

"Two Israeli peace proposals, in 2000 and 2008 ... met virtually all of the Palestinians' demands for a sovereign state in the areas won by Israel in the 1967 war -- in the West Bank, Gaza and even East Jerusalem. But Palestinian President Yasser Arafat rejected the first offer and Abbas ignored the second, for the very same reason their predecessors spurned the 1947 Partition Plan.

Each time, accepting a Palestinian State meant accepting the Jewish State, a concession the Palestinians were unwilling to make.

That is the issue. Not settlements. Not boundaries. The Palestinians, like most of their fellow Arabs and like many Muslims elsewhere, have never acknowledged that the Jews came home to Israel because they have never acknowledged that the Jews ever had a national home there. And they don't even acknowledge that the Jews are a people."

[ http://www.dennisprager.com/columns.aspx?g=7bafcb03-c8ea-4569-a281-f8f554561cbd&url=the_palestinians_want_peace_--_just_not_with_a_jewish_state -- The Palestinians Want Peace -- Just Not With a Jewish State" ]

Reply

Kathy Suarez

7/19/2014 05:06:54 am

But why? Why does the ELCA and the LWF stand against Israel? I sincerely do not understand.

Several years ago I tried to bring up this subject on Bishop Rinehart's blog and was promptly blocked. Why are these large Lutheran bodies against Israel and the Jews? After all, Jesus was (is?) Jewish. I do not understand.

Reply

Bill Warren

7/20/2014 08:55:49 am

There's nothing to understand. The ELCA and the LWF simply embrace whatever prejudice the general public accepts. They're not interested in truth, they're interested in popularity.

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Kathy Suarez

7/21/2014 03:56:39 am

Well, I hope you're right. I have the uncomfortable feeling that it is latent anti-Semitism, a terrible spiritual problem.

Bill Warren

7/21/2014 10:04:02 am

Going along with the crowd when one knows the crowd to be evil or in error is itself a terrible spiritual problem.

"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." (Ex. 23:2).

"...all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8).

Bill Warren

7/23/2014 10:08:17 am

I think anti-Semitism falls into the category of a "prejudice."

J. Kreiler

7/19/2014 07:34:27 am

Bishop Eaton's letter to Bishop Younan called for "peace talks to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable peace based upon a two-state solution...."

I thought Gaza was already a fully independent state.

Reply

Evan

7/30/2014 11:43:49 am

Why doesn't the North American Lutheran Church withdraw its application for membership in The Lutheran World Federation?

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Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. ​1 Thessalonians 5:21

Dan Skogen

Former ELCA seminary student and former ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word.

If you have been helped and blessed by Exposing the ELCA's ministry, please help us continue to proclaim the truth of God's Word to ELCA members who need to hear it.